What Was in 2010, What To Expect in 2011

I'm pleased to be a member of Career Collective, a community of bloggers that provides perspective on job search related topics on a monthly basis. Up this month, trends that will affect your career this year! Here's my take:

2010 was a power year for social media users:

By the numbers:

• We updated our statuses more. LinkedIn reported a ten-fold increase in status update volume over a 12 month period.
• We waved off the Google Wave and avoided getting stung by Google Buzz. (Under the terms of the Google Buzz settlement, Google will pay $8.5 million to fund organizations focused on Internet privacy or privacy education.)
• We spent more time on Facebook then on Google. At year’s end, Facebook beat out Google for traffic as the most visited site in 2010.

Also observed:

• Employers went online to find you. A whopping 86% of respondents to Jobvite’s Social Media Recruitment survey said they would be using social media for recruiting in 2010; 46% of those responding said they’d also increase spending to do it. (Want more information on how industry insiders use it? Read why tech-evangelist Robert Scoble calls Twitter crack for technical recruiters.)
• Employers are having a love-hate relationship with social media. While it has become a great force in finding candidates, it’s also enough to make a senior level compliance officer and corporate attorneys suffer panic attacks: In October, a former recruiter won a court case after she was sued by her former employer for taking a proprietary database. Her contention? She could learn just as much from information available in social media (and LinkedIn in particular) as she could from the database…The courts agreed.

MUST-DOS FOR 2011

Manage Your Online Presence

Whether you are a job seeker—or a working professional—monitoring and building a strong online presence that showcases your strengths and expertise is an essential ingredient for managing your own career.

Protect Yourself: Follow Best Practices in Using Social Media

While a proactive strategy for building a professional presence is required, I also think it’s important to protect yourself from the potential wrath of an angry past, present or potential employer. I anticipate further employer scrutiny of social media use by employees. Every lawyer I’ve spoken with recently says they speak to clients or potential clients at least once a week about an issue related to social media misuse, abuse, or discomfort. I expect to see more policy development, more education, and more employer issued guidelines around how employees should use social media and what they can—and can’t take with them when they leave. Want to stay out of trouble? Check out Kodak’s Social Media Tips Guide, paying special attention to their employee-developed policies for using social media.

Social Media Accounts and Work: Keep ‘Em Separated

If you haven’t done so already, use a personal e-mail—not a work account—for all of your social networking. You don’t want to leave a job and lose access to your LinkedIn account as well, do you? Keeping your access and login information separate is a best practice, just as only working on your resume with your own computer—and in off hours—is. Why invite problems?

Share Carefully

Did you read of status updates that led to firing in 2010? Avoid a similar fate.

Remember the elusive “Circle of Trust” in Meet the Parents? You need your own Circle of Trust for your job search—a handful of trusted advisors, mentors, friends and colleagues who you can count on to “have your back” and share leads and information.  I can hear the ringing of my mother’s voice as I type, “There’s no need to share everything with everyone." Especially if 84% of Americans are searching for a job in 11.

Go Forth

And with that, I’m pleased to announce the opportunity to put all these strategies in action in ‘11!

I’m working with StartWire, a new platform that allows professionals to accelerate job search through social collaboration with a trusted, private network of friends, colleagues and experts. If you’re a job seeker and want to check out StartWire, sign up for an invitation to take a test drive here. We’d love to have you take a look around.

To Your Success in 2011,

Chandlee

Here are posts from my friends at the Career Collective:

• Social Media Recruiting to Grow Further in 2011, @debrawheatman
• Another Year, Another Job Search Begins, @GayleHoward
• In 2011, Increase Your Prospects With Better Differentiation, @WalterAkana
• 4 Lessons Learned From Job Search in 2010, @Careersherpa
• Your Career Action Plan for the New Year, @KatCareerGal
• Trends Job Seekers Should Look For in 2011, @erinkennedycprw
• Things Every Job Seeker Should be Thinking About in 2011, @expatcoachmegan
• Let your presence be known or send out a red flag, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes
• How to find a job in 2011: Pay attention to emotional intelligence, @Keppie_Careers
• 2011 Employment Trends Supercharged with Twitter, @KCCareerCoach
• 3 Traits for Facing Weather, Employment and Chronic Illness, @WorkWithIllness
• Everything old is new again @DawnBugni
• Career Trend 2011: Accountability + Possibility = Sustainability, @ValueIntoWords
• Career Tools to Check Out in 2011, @barbarasafani
• What Was in 2010, What To Expect in 2011, @chandlee
• The Future of Job Search: 3 Predictions and 2 Wishes, @JobHuntOrg

Comments

[Career Sherpa]

Chandlee:
Happy New Year!

There is such a fine line between personal and professional use of social networking tools. I am glad you linked to Kodak's policy, as they are so nicely represented on Twitter professionally! Can't wait to read the employee developed section!

Good luck with StartWire! And all the best in 2011!

[Walter Akana]

Excellent post, Chandlee!

You have done a great job capturing the way 2010 played out! Really great points, all. Yet, I have to admit that I think that social media love-hate relationship goes well beyond employers. Even with dramatic growth in social media usage, there are still lots of people who seem to have mixed feelings about using social media to manage their careers.

I think that part of that stems from fear, and part from clear guidelines. So, your must-dos for 2011 really hit the mark in providing some much-needed advice. I especially like the “Circle of Trust.” People inside that circle can help for the longer term, and not simply inside of a given job search.

Happy New Year!

[Megan Fitzgerald]

Hi Chandlee,

So much sage advice to guide job seekers into 2011! All of your points regarding social media and your online presence are absolutely spot on (and then some!).

I love your point about having a "circle of trust". In a time where we must be vigilant about what information is being shared about us on and offline, having your own personal board of advisors to be able to discuss your challenges openly and honestly is extremely important. Having someone provide an outside perspective to help you make more informed decisions can really make an impact in such an extremely competitive marketplace.

Thanks for all of your career wisdom!

My best,
Megan
@expatcoachmegan

[Barbara Safani]

Chandlee,

I love the point about the employer love-hate relationship with social media. It's become a "can't live with it; can't live without it" issue for many HR professionals and it's a fascinating conversation. It will be interesting to see how things shake out in 2011!

[Sara Kmiecik]

Great post - I just stumbled onto your blog and I love it!